Diagonality- how to crochet with a diagonal bias.

You have found me this month meditating once again on the nature of those tall crochet stitches. You may remember that back in May this year I was looking at ways to subvert the verticality of crochet by using horizontal stitches. This month I have been looking at diagonals and I have been raiding my stitch dictionaries to illustrate these ideas.

What on earth am I talking about? Well at it's most basic level I am trying to distract my eye from following the vertical, tall stitches upwards. I am also trying to stop my eye from following the row by row alignment of so many crochet designs, horizontally. In the very simple pink design, above, raised or post stitches set at an angle draw the eye as if it was on railway tracks.

When the word 'diagonality' was suggested to me I thought it was an Americanism, but it's not. I realise now that I have come across this idea before. It is commonly used in all the visual arts from window dressing and interior design to fine art and photography. A diagonal moving from bottom left to top right is seen (at least in western culture) as rising. It is positive and uplifting. A diagonal that moves from bottom right to top left is seen as falling. It is negative and depressing. Why does this happen? It comes from the way we train our brains when we learn to read from left to right. So I can imagine that if I was from a different culture that reads in a different way, like Arabic, my brain might react in a different way too.

Let's look at some of the different ways I have found to make diagonals in crochet. The first thing that surprised me was that we don't have to avoid using horizontal and vertical stitches at all. This design based around triangles (it looks like trees to me) makes full use of them. It is however very 'busy' and not at all restful. My eye doesn't know where to settle.

We don't have to avoid using long stitches either. This design uses double-trebles (Tr-US) and chain stitches. Possibly that design should be called 'Mesmeric'. Shall we look at some thing a little more restful?!

I think this one would make a good fabric. It uses chain stitches and trebles (Dc-US) to move horizontally and create strong diagonal lines. Each 'cross' in the design is formed over two rows. Although the design is formed by repeating just these two rows the 'crosses' are staggered so that there is no vertical or horizontal bias.

This is one of my favourite crochet patterns. You will find many variations on this basic pattern. It is constructed entirely with chain and double crochet (Sc-US) stitches. While the double crochet stitches give it an horizontal element the diagonals are strong enough that we are not distracted. Once again the repeating patterns are staggered.

I found that the majority of the designs I picked out had a staggered design, so clearly I found them more appealing. This one has an interesting diamond motif and although the elements are set in columns it doesn't have an overpowering vertical feel to it.

In comparison although there are almost no vertical stitches in this pattern it says vertical columns to me. Those treble stitches (Dc-US) are set on an angle like corner-to-corner stitches. It should answer my brief for diagonality, but does it? I shall let you decide!

If diamonds are your thing here is my final attempt to see if I can get columns to work. It has an interesting zigzag element that I like. It also leads me neatly into talking about shell patterns.

You will probably have seen this pattern or some thing like it before. I've spotted it in a few contemporary patterns lately. I love how those curving shell like stitches create such crisp straight diagonals and those sharp 90o angles.

Just to prove that there are many many versions of the same thing I had to make this exploded version which clearly shows you how the pattern is created. In actual fact the yellow design that opened this months post is also a variant of the same arrangement.

To be perfectly honest, it's only now with the samples all in front of me that I have made that connection!

I felt drawn to try out this fancy mesh stitch as it reminds me of a traditional Japanese fabric design of floating Lily pads. As with all the best patterns there are many versions.

So of course I had to make you another one!

Have you noticed that I made most of these samples in No.10 crochet cotton? And have you perhaps been wondering what this or that one would look like in some other yarn weight? Me too! The sample above is made in DK weight Bamboo/cotton. It's the same design that I showed you earlier...

... made in crochet thread. It doesn't look a great deal different on the screen, although in reality it's twice the size and has a softer feel and drape.

There was no way that I would attempt this in thread crochet! Those are raised or post stitches which stand proud of the mesh detail. Despite how vertical those post stitches are the staggered design and the strong triangular/diamond motif gets this a diagonality thumbs up. I'm just not sure what I would use this pattern for.

In comparison, these more practical diamonds have a strong horizontal element. Once again I think the diagonals hold their own, while the regularity of the pattern means it's not too busy.

I think I've saved the best or at least most interesting 'til last. This is a 'continuous crochet motif', or 'short row' stitch pattern. I have left the yarn ends so that you can see that I started and finished in the same place. The clover leaves look like individual elements which are made separately and joined together later. In fact this piece was made more or less in rows. Starting in the bottom left hand corner the lower leaves are made on the first row and the upper leaves on the second row. The left hand edge is finished last. This is a fascinating technique which deserves it's own post in the future. Crocheting in this way has a very organic feel but you have to pay attention. This was my third attempt, but by that point I felt like I could have worked it in the dark. (well almost!)

I think I should congratulate us both for getting to the end of this months offering. Something a bit lighter next month perhaps? Nonetheless, I hope I have inspired you to look at your stitch dictionaries in a different way and perhaps spot a design you had previously overlooked! 

Fastening off...